2025-05-29
Effective water management and policymaking need to understand the intricate relationship between socio-economic factors and water supplies. Annually updated, the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) provides demographic, social, economic, and housing data. The water_insecurity_2022 and water_insecurity_2023 datasets used in this study are compiled from relevant indicators within the ACS to answer:
How is indoor plumbing insecurity spatially distributed across US counties in 2022 and 2023?
What are the significant county-level changes in plumbing insecurity between these years?
How do these county-level rates compare to the national average for plumbing access?
Analysis of water insecurity data enables the production of insightful maps of water resources and infrastructure nationwide in the US to help water resource managers and policymakers identify vulnerable people and infrastructural needs.
The dataset water_insecurity_2022 and water_insecurity_2023 is the US county-level water insecurity data for 2022 and 2023. They come from the TidyTuesday project and are usually collated based on publicly available data such as the American Community Survey (ACS).
A two-year dataset was used to compare infrastructure improvements over time, in order to analyse the spatial distribution of the lack of pipeline facilities and thus the areas of need for focus.
This map shows the difference in the percentage of people lacking indoor plumbing in each county compared to the 2022 U.S. average (0.1%). Most counties highlighted in red exceed the national average, indicating higher plumbing insecurity. A few counties in the Southwest (shaded in pink and purple) show extreme disparities, with values more than 2–3% above the national average.
This map displays the percentage of people lacking indoor plumbing in 2023, relative to the national average (0.1%). Counties shaded in red exceed the average, while the deepest disparities (above 2–3%) are seen in some counties of Arizona and New Mexico. Many areas across the Southeast and Northeast also continue to show above-average plumbing insecurity.
This bar chart illustrates the top 10 counties with the largest percentage change in Lacking Plumbing between 2022 and 2023. This chart visualises that some counties have achieved significant progress in improving their plumbing infrastructure (e.g. McKinley County), while others may face challenges in 2023 that result in an increase in the percentage of the population lacking plumbing facilities (e.g. Greenwood County).
Plumbing insecurity continues to be a problem in many parts of the U.S., and in some areas, it’s actually getting worse. While a lot of counties stayed close to the national average (0.1%), certain regions, especially in the Southwest, South, and Northeast had much higher rates of households without proper plumbing. Comparing 2022 to 2023, some of the counties already struggling saw even bigger increases, pointing to growing gaps in basic infrastructure.